A clearer pattern is emerging (Photo: Anna Konopczak / AWI) The biologic processes that take place when permafrost thaws is well understood: as formerly frozen organic matter warms, the process of decomposition — set on standby for thousands of years — sets in,...
The two flagship initiatives of the Swiss Polar Institute address the impact of climate change on the Arctic (left) and the high mountains, also known as the third pole (right). Images: Michael Wenger / Piero d’Houin Inocybe, CC BY-SA 1.0 Switzerland can look...
The Aniakchak volcano on the Alaska Peninsula (here the caldera) may be responsible for one of the most violent volcanic eruptions in the last 4,000 years. It is located in a region that belongs one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. Image:...
A mother polar bear with her two cubs on the pack ice near Svalbard is a beautiful image. But Norwegian authorities and experts at the Polar Institute fear that this sight is becoming increasingly rare due to pack ice loss and disturbance by tourists. (Photo: Dr...
Konrad “Koni” Steffen (far right), who died in 2020, promoted the establishment of the “Swiss Camp” in Greenland and accompanied young scientists there to support them in their work on climate effects on the cryosphere. This was extraordinarily...
